Imagine for a moment, someone gave you a card for Christmas. And inside the card was a check for 1 MILLION DOLLARS! That gift was given out of love and freely to you.
If you knew what was inside, would you really leave it there?
No way! You would open that card, say THANK YOU, and cash it as soon as possible.
You know God has given us something similar- salvation.
It’s a free gift. Given to you.
God has given you THIS check, THIS AMAZING GIFT, but you have to accept it.
That check does you no good if you just know it is there, but it remains in the card. What good would it do tell people you have a million dollars, but never actually deposit it into your account?
Maybe you don’t want to cash the check, because you are afraid of what accepting it means. You might have to do what that person asks- like love Him, communicate with Him, and be open to being transformed into a better person because of Him…
Who wants a gift with strings attached… right?
What if those strings didn’t tie you down but freed you to be exactly who you were created to be??? I mean a million dollars could really change your life for the better- right? So could accepting God’s salvation plan!
So why do some many people choose to not accept that gift and deposit it into their lives?
I think the biggest reason is people don’t understand salvation.
What is salvation?
What a great question! Salvation literally means the act of saving…
So, what do you saved from- sin!
See we live in this world broken by sin. This sin separates us from God. And sin has a consequence- death. But Jesus came and took that punishment for you! He died for you. He took the punishment you deserve. To save you from your sins.
All you have to do is accept the gift that has been freely given and deposit it into your heart. Then your relationship with God can be restored as well!
But you can’t just leave the gift in the envelope. You have to accept it! Open it! Deposit it! Be transformed by it!
“For the wages of sin is death, but the FREE GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).”